http://www.therpf.com/f79/1-1-millennium-falcon-cockpit-replica-group-build-147319/index207.html
http://alienbee.net/super-awesome-star-wars-photoshoot-gallery/
http://wikidi.com/view/tatooine (click view all images)
The good news is that you continue to check back on that website, and they get the clicks they so desire.
Rebooting the prequels is a very fanwanky thing to do, not Disney's job, and should indeed be left to fan edits or personal decisions of what is canon.
It's Disney's job to make a great sequel trilogy that makes up for the prequels, and makes Star Wars (when considering the entirety of it), into "two out of three ain't bad", instead of a minority of great movies sandwiched between 12 hours of bullshit.
http://www.theraider.net/films/todoom/making_4_instudio.php
Was interesting reading a few more details and quotes about his Temple of Doom recovery.
We might get that evidence once "Rebels" launches. But if the films are great, I won't complain.
Updated it in ways more slight than anyone cares about. :) (link changed)
Added a wipe to remove the more egregious Dewback/Trooper clip: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k6tzxOUvF1V0Mf88kMo
Spliced in Harmy's immaculate sentry bot-free search shot and tried to match color grading: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k6sBrYPXo2n6iZ88kLq
Reproduced wipe to show droids outside without CGI dewback: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k2UxgJOE0k5qCr88njC
Added burned-in Greedo subtitles that I think look decent. Nearly correct font, shadow, some blur: http://i.imgur.com/uP9YbHD.jpg
So aside from tweaking colors and contrast, I think it's how I want it. Nothing breathtaking here, but I'm learning a lot at least. Any comments or advice?
I think the idea that it is the door hurt him is speculation.
I agree about not linking to thesun. I've actually seen it forbidden on another forum (as they had run trashy lie 'articles' related to the subject discussed there. Kremlin might know it, based on his avatar). I think banning is extreme, but discouraging it makes sense as the page being linked to is just clickbait.
I recommend just hotlinking to the image you wanted to share. The fact that they make it difficult to do makes it all the more important to do so. :)
http://img.thesun.co.uk/aidemitlum/archive/01999/falcon_1999627a.jpg
"STAR Wars actors are in revolt after Harrison Ford was crushed in a near tragic accident on the set of the new movie."
? I assume this is a scam to get subscribers for thesun? Also makes the door image questionable.
They probably let the previous image leakers go (or, in fact, permitted it). But if someone is actually leaking images to tabloids about an on set injury, maybe they'll actually get fired. Good chance it's some nobody anyway.
Inspired by the semi-specialized work of kk650, this morning I thought I would attempt to put something together that resembles what I’ve been discussing in his thread. In doing so, I have come to understand his points against my changes. 😃
Started with the kk650 ANH (retro color) V2. I’m also doing this on my own fresh bluray source, but I’m indecisive about the colors gradings I’ve come up with, and he already has most of the other changes I want. Not getting too bogged down in the color, as I am looking forward to seeing KK’s more saturated releases.
I’ve shamefully stolen Harmy’s amazing work to further despecialize. Though I wanted to use 2.5 for all of it, I just couldn’t get the color I wanted out of the (excellent) 35mm parts. I may try again. I think I upped the saturation on the 2.5 and reduced it (and blue highlights) in 1.0.
Result: Crossfades and music cuts that didn’t cause me too much trouble. The hardest sounding cut, after the yellow car, is there in the original. Loss of a few robot frames. Only see dino CGI from a distance, no sentry bot, and no CGI dewback.
(updated to fix some sound and upgrade to Harmy 2.5 for the stormtrooper closeup without sentry bot)
Looks great and seamless. Might even be worth keeping, depending on how the 35mm turn out.
But, for some reason, I thought you had already done this. Maybe that was for different scenes. In the cloud city previews you posted before, the border was certainly expanded from the cropped bluray (I think I even complimented you on how flawless it looked and asked how hard it is to color grade a splice like that). The chair on the right side of the screen, the to of 3P0's head, and the control panel were all back in frame. Right?
Great! I'm sure these will be my definitive versions when I feel like watching with a bit of circa-millennial George Lucas nonsense. :)
Will this have be surround sound or stereo?
kk650 said:
towne32 said:
Thanks. It's strange, the screenshots you've got above actually look more green/yellow than the clip, and even more so than the V2 release (so, retro). The problem is probably on my end, but I've got them side-by-side so I'm pretty sure I'm not crazy. I like the look in the MKV.
This may be asking a lot, but do you have the ability to render short split-screen clips of all three? I just know I'm going to end up downloading more than one to figure out which I prefer, but maybe that kind of comparison would help avoid doing that.
Nice spot! You're right, imgur for some reason turns images that you upload onto it a little green, no idea why, its pretty annoying. I used to use imageshack that didn't have these colour issues but my trial ran out. The mkv is exactly how its going to look.
Unfortunately the program I use to grade these doesn't have the ability to create split screen videos. I would say that if you feel the Classic version is too saturated for you, check out the Retro release and if you think it's not colourful enough, check out the Technicolor release. I would personally check out all three of Star Wars myself, they all offer their own distinct 'feeling' and decide which I prefer from there and download the same one of the other two.
Thanks. I'm glad I checked the MKV, or I might have skipped the classic grading.
I'll probably grab the classic and technicolors. I've got the ANH 'retro' V2 and, while it looks good, it's a bit flat for my taste (whether or not it's accurate). I've been doing my own grading recently, and it's pretty frustrating. But the ones I've been happier with have been on the more saturated side.
Thanks. It's strange, the screenshots you've got above actually look more green/yellow than the clip, and even more so than the V2 release (so, retro). The problem is probably on my end, but I've got them side-by-side so I'm pretty sure I'm not crazy. I like the look in the MKV.
This may be asking a lot, but do you have the ability to render short split-screen clips of all three? I just know I'm going to end up downloading more than one to figure out which I prefer, but maybe that kind of comparison would help avoid doing that.
mfastx said:
I doubt they go against PT Boba. I'd imagine they'll pick up his story in the years after ROTS.
I hope the entire movie is just a Lemmiwinks (South Park) type tale of his journey through the digestive tract of the Sarlacc.
What sort of feedback are you looking for as far as things that can be 'missed'?
Jedi is probably the least favorited by fans. But it's still loved, and the damage done to it by the Special Editions is by far the most profound, and this project is important for that reason. The changes to ANH are a bit 'in your face', but it was more about the spectacle and not completely altering the film. Empire SE was tasteful enough that I can sit through it and enjoy the whole thing. Jedi rocks and the Anakin ghost are just film-ruining changes.
As someone else recently said, I grew up with the pre-SE VHS and watched it more than either of the others. No matter how many times I watched it, the Sarlacc was just this immense, bizarre, slightly terrifying concept. And now it's a smooth digital beak thing that lives in a hole.
timdiggerm said:
If you agree not to share, but still do so, you will barred from getting Empire, and Jedi and other future releases we have planned.
I assume barred from getting pre-release, not final product. Seems fair, although certainly hard to enforce.
We will also take preventative measures.
What does this mean?
Probably watermarks or similar. Very minor changes in different discs, etc.
I didn't know you guys had two blogs. But I haven't been around here long. Glad that things are reaching an advanced stage like this.
team_negative1 said:
towne32 said:
team_negative1 said:
We know there doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in Jedi. However, we will be posting some shots from the unaltered original version, including but not just:
=====================================================
The Rancor, the Sarlacc pit, the dance scene, and few more.
Let us know of any other ones of interest.
Team Negative1
Very much interested. But also well aware that it will probably be quite a wait before it is complete.
Not to get your hopes up. But the damage is relatively a lot less than empire. It's a lot more than our Star Wars LPP.
We do have multiple prints, so we can combine them for a better one.
Honestly, besides color correction. More than 60% of this movie is watchable right now.
Team Negative1
Well despite your best effort, my hopes are up. :P
Do you think, then, that it surpass the others films in completion status? Or perhaps it already has, for Empire.
team_negative1 said:
We know there doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in Jedi. However, we will be posting some shots from the unaltered original version, including but not just:
=====================================================
The Rancor, the Sarlacc pit, the dance scene, and few more.
Let us know of any other ones of interest.
Team Negative1
Very much interested. But also well aware that it will probably be quite a wait before it is complete.
edit: went back and figured it out.
So, retro is similar to the V1 releases.
Technicolor is the more saturated version.
Classic is... somewhere in between?
It's nice to have options. Hopefully you're not having to do 12 releases of RoTJ (yubnub/new endings, 9gb and 16gb, 3 color gradings).
Adywan's is more of a reimagining. He's in a way going beyond Lucas, and fixing all the things that he and other ans have found to be wrong, including filming custom material, making new effects, etc. It's an awesome project, and very interesting, but not my cup of tea as far as a "go-to" version of the film.
Harmy's is trying to get as close to a blu-ray quality version of the theatrical release as possible. So, in a way, they're quite opposite from one another. But the SEs are like the South Pole. No matter what direction you step from it, things are looking up.
Thanks. I was considering conversion as the best option. So long as I can attach every track to the video and have them move/cut/whatever cleanly and in sync, this sounds good.
edit: It looks like I've got it figured out.
kk650 said:
Yes I agree, it looks like GL was experimenting with CG at the time and CG Jabba was nowhere near the level that it should have been to actually be included in the film, irrespective of all the narrative problems it creates.
On the other hand I felt all the CG additions in Mos Eisley were of a much better visual quality overall. Excluding the droid slamming the other one and the swinging jawas, I really like the additions that were made to Mos Eisley, making it feel more like a lived in city rather than a set, I felt it was one of the things where GL really improved on the UOT and one of the reasons why I made these Semi-Specialised Editions.
What are your thoughts on the Sarlacc CGI? I think it looks terribly dated, especially the "beak" part. Again, it reminds me of 1990's video games and ruins the mystery and absurdity of the monster. Since you say your V2 of RoTJ is in final colorizing stages, you have probably already decided whether or not to deal with the Sarlacc?
kk650 said:
towne32 said:
Thanks for all the detailed explanations!
It's easy enough for me to glance at these things and think of alternatives, but it's quite another to try them out and see how they work. I do feel the opposite way about the dino vs. droid, but to each their own. The dino makes me feel like I'm back in 1997 and CGI cut scenes in video games are just starting to become a thing, but are not very good yet.
But it's just a personal preference. Obviously, as someone posting in this thread, I am not 100% anti-SE. I think there's nothing wrong with getting a bit crazy with a 20th anniversary theater re-release! So long as you don't try to wish away history after that. For just about anything *living* that has been done with CGI (Dinos, Jedi Rocks sequence, Sarlac*, Jar Jar ;) ) itjust misses the mark on a technical level. There are other flaws on top of those, in many cases. But if they spliced a Jabba prop into ANH well instead of a terribly anachronistic model, I wouldn't mind it sticking around despite the other faults with it (re-used dialog, breaking the Jabba reveal).
*on that note, I'm crossing my fingers that you can make this particular edit work. :)
It seems that we all have different tolerances for different changes in the SE, which is why its pretty much impossible for anybody to make a version that combines the two which will make everybody happy. You clearly really dislike the dinos but the dinos have never been an issue for me. That bit with the stormtroopers riding on those CG animals looking for the droids in the desert has never been an issue with me for the same reason.
By contrast though, you wouldn't be too bothered by keeping that Jabba scene in Star Wars so long as they used a decent prop while I absolutely HATE that scene and it has little to do with the CG Jabba. It's probably the change I hate the most out of all the SE changes throughout the OT, closely followed by Greedo shooting first and Hayden Christenson replacing Sebastian Shaw in the Jedi Ghosts scene in Return of the Jedi. I hate the Jabba scene in Star Wars for three main reasons:
1) Its simply repeating all the information we were already told during the Han Solo/Greedo scene
2) It makes Jabba look like a clown, a buffoon that nobody in their right mind would be afraid of, certainly not like Han is in Empire Strikes Back
3) It ruins the surprise and final brilliant reveal in Return of the Jedi of this villain that has been a menace hanging over Han and the others, a dark shadow looming over them throughout the entire trilogy, with people thinking 'Oh, its that clown from Star Wars again'.
Everybody has a different opinion on what should be kept/what should stay. The only sane thing for me to do is go with what works for me. Hopefully others will agree with a lot of my choices and be able to enjoy these Semi-Specialised Editions as well.
Oh, I fully agree with all of those reasons, and I think it has no place in an *ideal* version of the movie. I simply mean that, while watching it, the thing that takes me out of the movie the most is that it feels like I'm watching a youtube video on "how to do CGI in maya" or something. It was a neat little bonus to show off unused footage in the '97 release, but I think it honestly should never be shown aside from a DVD/bluray easter egg section.
CapableMetal said:
Muxing is the process of combining the audio and video files into a single container format (in this case an MKV). Demuxing is the opposite of that. TBH, if you demux an AVC file from an MKV and try to open it in Premiere you may still have trouble. Premiere imports M2TS files no problem, so you may want to try re-muxing from the MKV to an M2TS file using Tsmuxer or a similar application.
Be aware though that Premiere isn't very quick when working with compressed files and I've had problems with it decoding frames correctly before from AVC video streams. I export from MKV to a Lagarith lossless AVI before trying to manipulate the video. The files are very large, but then Premiere itself creates a huge cache of decoded video anyway if working with AVC!
I am trying to work with a remuxed m2ts file in Premiere. But the audio is DTS. As I expected, this doesn't load into Premiere (though the video track seems fine). I would really like edit points to occur simultaneously in Premiere or After Effects (or whatever other program I end up using). Surely there is a way to accomplish this?
Thanks